Winter Ascent on Aroania Mountains

Aroania, also known as Helmos or Chelmos, is a mountain range in Achaea, Peloponnese, Greece. At 2,355 m elevation, Aroania is the third highest mountain of the Peloponnese, after Taygetus and Kyllini, and the highest in Achaea. The largest town near the mountain is Kalavryta. The municipal unit Aroania took its name from the mountain.

Aroania is situated in southeastern Achaea, near the border with Corinthia. The slightly higher Kyllini mountain is about 15 km to its east, separated from Aroania by the valley of the river Olvios. The mountain Erymanthos is about 30 km to the west, across the valley of the river Vouraikos. The rivers Krios, Krathis and Vouraikos drain the mountain towards the Gulf of Corinth in the north. The river Aroanios drains the mountain towards the southwest, to the Ionian Sea.

The first day we wanted to reach the waterfalls of Styga where the myth says “The plunging of Achilles in the Styga waters, leaving his heel vulnerable, as it was the spot from which Thetis was holding him, is an episode from the hero’s life that although it was commonly known, is solely mentioned by Statius, a Latin writer of the 1st century A.D; it is possible that the writer used this particular incident to justify the hero’s death from the arrow of the Troyan prince Paris.”

The mountain is the site of the Aristarchos telescope and of a ski resort. Points of interest on the mountain include the Cave of the Lakes (Spilaio ton Limnon), the monastery ofMega Spilaio and the mountain town Kalavryta. Mountain villages on the mountain arePlanitero and Peristera. There are several protected areas on Aroania.

That second day we woke up at 5.00 in the morning so we could have enough time to reach Psili Koryfi, the top of the mountain and to come back to our campsite.